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Ancient Qâêr
Note - The author of this article assumes the reader already has basic linguistic knowledge and some terms and systems are explained very briefly (or not at all) because the author assumes that the reader already knows what these terms/systems mean. Brief Overview Qâêr is a VSO structured language with most of the focus and inflections around the verb as well as a few particles. Qâêr is the native language of the Yþwyn people. It was spoken on the planet Sâfâolêracópâ. In the current time period this language is extinct however the 9 spoken languages on this planet all descend from Ancient Qâêr which in turn descends from Proto-Fárîân. This language is prefix heavy and strictly VSO structured with very few irregularities. For a list on the dialects and different variations of Qâêr, please see the Qâêr Language Family ='Phonology'= Single Letters Diphthongs : Vowels ='Phonotactics'= Consonants Consonant Rules Q''' and '''X are stand alone consonants, which means that only vowels can be placed on either side of them unless consonants positioned next to them are dissyllabic* to Q or X.. They may also only be in the first and middle syllables of words. The consonants rules, where start means first syllable, middle the middle syllables and the end the last syllable, are as follows; #Nasals ##Can never be before or after Fricatives. ##Can be before Plosives and (when dissyllabic but in exception to ñ which may never be before) Liquids but only after Approximants. #Approximants ##Apart from when being before Nasals, they are always voiced. ##Can be placed at the start, before and/or after vowels. ##Can be before and/or after Fricatives. ##Are unvoiced before Nasals but cannot be placed after Nasals. ##Can never be after Liquids and can only be before them when dissyllabic. ##''Approximants'' can be before Plosives. #Fricatives ##Can never be before or after Plosives or Nasals or (except when dissyllabic then they are allowed)Liquids. ##Can be before and/or after Approximants. ##Apart from ð'', ''Fricatives are never voiced when in the first or last syllables but never un-voiced when in any other position. #Liquids (J & W) ##Can never be before or after Fricatives or Approximants. ##Can never be before Plosives or Nasals. #Plosives ##Can be after Nasals and Approximants. ##Can never be before or after Fricatives. ##Can be before Liquids *Certain consonants cannot be the first letter in a word and these are; **b **d **p ***These consonants can be in the first syllable they just need to have a vowel in front of them. ****'NB' There are, albeit a very few, exceptions. NB In relation to the consonants mm, nn, ñ, they are mostly used to distinguish words of similar origin (i.e two different words derived from the same root in Proto-Fárîân) but also often occur in the joining of roots. *''' Dissyllabic Example - Elwyn = El/wyn :The '''l and w''' are considered Dissyllabic to each other because they are not pronunced in the same syllable. Syllable and Stress '''Syllable Structure - ©© V (A) C *The (A) means all consonants apart from stops. The rule for stress placement in Qâêr; *The stress is always placed on the second last accentuated vowel, and in the case where this is not accentuated then the stress swaps to the nearest accentuated vowel. In the case of two syllable words then the stress is always placed on the accentuated vowel and in the rare case where both vowels are accentuated the first one is favoured. *In words with are more than four syllables long the first accentuated and second last accentuated voewl are stressed. **E.g ðoncênansêwe where the stress is on BOTH cên and sê. ='Grammar'= Sentence Structure The sentence structure in Qâêr follows a simple pattern. The main clause structure is VSO, with subclauses being also VSO. Qâêr is a head-frontal language and all modifers are placed after the head with prepositions being used instead of postpositions. A Noun is followed by its determiner then corresponding adjectives, just as the verb is followed by its adverbs. The structures can be broken down thus; : VP= Mood Particle + Verb + (Adv.) :NP= Noun + (Det.) + (Adj.) :PP+ (Verb) + (Adverb) + Preposition + Noun + (Det.) + (Adj.) Noun, Verb and Adjective Structure Nouns Structure Verbs Structure Adjective Structure *Adjectives cannot be inflected with comparative and the "Gradable" prefix at the same time. Aspect and Tense Correlatives Personal Pronouns Cases Case Declension Table for Nouns with Examples NB See Phonotactics Section regarding the loss of some consonants with the adding of affixes below. Noun Class/Gender Declension Table for Nouns Noun classes are inflected onto nouns, a noun must be in a noun class at all times. These classes are open to variation though only minor, and can also be used for derivation. Example a Man could be moved from the Human class to the Small Inanimate class syggesting the man is now dead, or is a corpse. These noun classes can also be used for comedy, example putting the same man into the Large Inanimate class suggesting obesity. However they are strict rules and guidlines and not all noun can fit, or are allowed to be put into any class. Inanimate objects cannot move to the Human class, and the Non-Human class is, obviously, applied to all living things that are not Human. The second last class would be used to derive such forms as Pizzaria, and the last being used for Planets and Stars and such. Noun Plurals The Plural form of a noun is created by placing the prefix '-yn-'' to the noun, e.g Noun Definitiveness Defined Nouns are followed by the modifier '''ep', and un-defined nouns are simply left without. This modifier is also takes the nouns gender/class that it relates to, as a form of conjugation. Example of a Fully Inflected Noun erylynjymân''' rylep'' is a fully inflected noun. The noun, and accompanying determiner translates, roughly, to The Armed Men/The Men who are Armed/The Men who have Weapons on them It can be broken down into; :e-ryl-yn-jymân ryl-ep ::ABS.-Weapon N.Class-Plural-Def.-Man N.Class-Determiner Copulas There is one Copula in Qâêr and that is Mellon. Mellon is similar to the English verb to be however it is used only in two contexts, in reference to nouns and adjectives. Mellon is used when one is saying or describing one noun as another, or when using adjectives with pronouns; eg. :The Man is King :I am President :John is intelligent. ::NB Mellon would be used in place of the verb to be. It conjugates thus; : :NB The pronouns used with Mellon take the Ergative case. :NB This copula can be inflected with aspect however not with any of the other verb affixes. :NB Any Noun (defined or not) that is not a Pronoun or Special Noun (eg. Names e.c.t) takes the form for they. Verb Agreement Verbs agree and conjugate with only two genders even though Qâêr has eleven. Verbs agree with the two genders Animate vs. Non-Animate because, in a sense, all eleven genders of Qâêr fit into these two distinctions. All living life including humans, plants and animals as well as emotions and magical entities come under the Animate distinction, everything not included in the above comes under the Inanimate. Verb conjugation is a prefix and is dependant on the Agent, Subject, and Object in the sentence. Intransitive Verbs Transitive Verbs Prefixes and Their Meanings There are many affixes in Qâêr however here is a basic list of the ones that won't be mentioned anywhere else on this page. Negation Verb negation is done by adding the prefix sâo-''' to any particular verb one wishes to negate. Double negation is done by adding the prefix 'sêsâo-' to any verbs. Double negation implies at not at all sense of meaning. *The single negative would convey a meaning as - He did not see Which conveys he did not see event/something. *The double negative would convey a meaning as - He cannot see Which conveys that the man can't see at all, i.e He is blind, or He sees nothing Which conveys that he is seeing or saw nothing at all, i.e He completely missed seeing the entire event/thing. The negation of adjectives is done also in a similiar fashion by adding the negation prefix 'sâo-' to the adjective thus obtaining results such as Happy - '''Un'happy'' Derivation All the following are Prefixes which remove the first vowel (if applicable, i.e is simply added if the word begins with a consonant) when being attached to the host. Adjective --> Adverb - '-sâol-' :Example; Quick > Quickly Adjective --> Noun '-caêm-' :Example; Happy > Happiness :Example; Slow > Slowness Noun --> Verb '-lêot-' :Exmple; Glory > Glorify Noun --> Adjective '-faên-' :Exmple; Recreation > Recreational Transitive Verbs --> Intransitive Verbs -- '''Ablaut o/ô/ó : This takes place for PAssive Voice : This ablaut vowel takes the place of the stressed vowel in the root and when there isn't an accentuated vowel present beforehand then this ablaut takes the place of the second last vowel in the root. Intransitive Verbs --> Transitive Verbs -- Ablaut y/ŷ/ÿ Adjectives --> Transitive Verbs -- '-câot-' :Example; Rich > Enrich Nouns --> Transitive Verbs -- câold-''' :Example; Rapture > Enrapture Verb Prefixes In this section the different affixes that relate solely to verbs will be discussed. The Inchoative Verb (Inceptive Verb) This verb conveys the process of beginning or becoming. This verb type is created simply but inflecting a verb in the Inceptive Aspect and this represents the start or beginning of that particular action and therefore negates verbs such as '''to start or to begin'. The Catenative Verb A Catenative Verb is a verb which takes other verbs as objects, Example; We '''promised' to try practicing tennis more often.'' Here in the above example the verb promised is Catenative and takes the verbs to try (Infinitive Form) and practicing (Gerund Form) as its objects. In English Catenative verbs are not marked however in Qâêr a verb has to be inflected with the Catenative prefix to become a Catenative Verb. : The prefixes to change verbs to Catenative form is - '-syld-' Control Verbs In linguistics, a control construction (also called equi-NP deletion) is a clause that contains a main clause, the predicate of which has two complements — an embedded clause (or subordinate clause) complement and a nominal complement that acts as the semantic argument of the main clause and of the embedded clause. This nominal argument is the controller (or antecedent). Verbs that occur in control structures are control verbs (or equi verbs). : Example in English - George '''tried' to escape'' Of course in the above sentence there are two verbs, so how does one distinguish between which verb is a control verb and which isnt? Well in English one simply doesn't know without foreknowledge however in Qâêr a distinction is made between normal and control verbs. Control Verbs in Qâêr are created and shown with a variated form of middle voice which inflects on the verb that will be or is taking the place of a Control Verb. There are two variants of the variated particle, one which refers to the Subject and one which refers to the Object. : Example in English - Georgina '''expected' to win the race'' : Here the control verb is Expected and the Subject is Georgina with the Race as the Object. : In this sentence both verbs refer to the subject, that being Georgina. : The gerund form can also be used - Georgina '''remembered' winning the race''. : Here the control verb is remembered but still both verbs refer to the subject. :: This is because it doesn’t make sense in English to write - Georgina expected Georgina/Herself to win the race. In Qâêr with reference to Control Verbs that relate to the Subject, the prefix Insert Here is used which attaches onto the secondary verb (the one that follows the main verb) which shows that the main verb is actually a control verb and that it and thi following verb are paired and refer to the Subject. : Thus the Qâêr translation looks like this in English - ''expected (Subject)herselfwin Georgina therace.'' : This set out above along with the prefix that attaches to the secondary (or the verb(s) being controlled) verbs makes it obvious that both verbs take Georgina as the subject. :: The layout of this sentence is as follows; :: Expected - Prefixwin - ERGGeorgina - ABSRace ::: *Considering verbs that relate to the subject (or Object as below), only the main verb takes tense. In relation to control verbs with secondary verbs that refer to the Object instead of the Subject, Qâêr has a similar pattern to above. : Example in English - She '''convinced' him to do it.'' :: Here the control verb is convinced. Syntactically Him is only the direct object of convinced however semantically Him is the patient of convinced and the agent of to do so therefore both verbs are acting on Him which therefore becomes the Object of both verbs. In Qâêr this is done by using variated form of the original control verb prefix Insert Here, however this one symbolises that the main verb and following secondary verb(s) act on the object and not the subject like above. Therefore applying this prefix the Qâêr translation into English looks like this; : Convinced - SuffixDo - ERGShe - ABSHim - [DAT}It :: * Remember that only the main verb takes tense. Phrasal, Prepositional, and Phrasal-Prepositional Verbs and their Usage in Qâêr Phrasal verbs are usually used informally in everyday speech as opposed to the more formal Latinate verbs, such as to get together rather than to congregate, to put off rather than to postpone, or to get out rather than to exit. Phrasal and Prepositional and Phrasal-Prep verbs have a very simple structure in Qâêr, The sentence structure stays the same with the verb at the head and the phrasal verb coming after the verb. The phrasal verb is inflected with a suffix indicating that it is not the main lexical verb (when applicable) and the preposition always comes after the verb and adverb and acts upon the last object whether DO or IDO (or subject in intransitive constructions) and when not then this preposition will precede its subject/object. This can also be done with adverbs, an adverb in a literal phrasal verb modifies the verb it is attached to, and a preposition links the subject to the verb. However the adverbs do not take case or any other unsuaul inflection. (unusual in this sense means anything that adverbs would not normally be inflected with) 'Phrasal' : English Phrasal Verb (Transitive) - Switch off the light. :: Qâêr Translation - aspectSwitch off abslight ::: NB No Agent in the above sentence, rather the verb Switch off acts upon the Object The Light ::: NB When being used with personal pronouns, e.g ''Switch it '''off (English Usage), in Qâêr the structure doe not chnage for personal pronouns. : English Phrasal Verb (Intransitive) - When I entered the room he looked up. :: Qâêr Translation participle aspectenter ergI absroom, 'aspectlook up''' dathe '' :::NB When there is a lexical verb in the sentence as well as a phrasal/prepositional verb construction, the phrasal/prep verb always comes before the subject/object that performs the action/event, unless this is the same subject/object that performs the action/event of the main lexical verb in which case a structure similar to that of the below example is followed. : English Phrasal Verb with Adverb - She opened the shutters and looked outside. :: Qâêr Translation - aspectopen 'aspectlook outside''' erg.She absshutter'' 'Prepositional' Prepositional verbs are phrasal verbs that contain a preposition. : English - On Fridays, we look after our grandchildren. :: Qâêr -'' aspectlook after Friday ergWe absgrandchildren'' :::NB Here, because this sentences is Habitual, the time refernce Friday goes after the verb and the verb would be in the habitual aspect, if this was a one-off mention of doing it on Friday's then Grandchildren would be followed by on datFriday. : English - We look after '''them. :: Qâêr - aspectlook after ergwe absthem The verb can have its own object, which usually precedes the preposition: : She '''helped the boy to an extra portion of potatoes. :: Qâêr - aspecthelp ergshe absportion extra Partitivepotatoes datboy ::: NB Here the Portion is what she helped him to, extra is an adjective of the noun portion and potatoes here inflected in Partitive case is what the portion was of. : With pronouns; She helped him to some. :: Qâêr - aspecthelp ergshe abshim datsome Prepositional verbs with two prepositions are possible: : We talked to the minister about the crisis. : Qâêr - aspecttalk about ergWe absCrisis datMinister Phrasal-Prepositional A phrasal verb can contain an adverb and a preposition at the same time. Again, the verb itself can have a direct object: - No direct object: The driver got off to a flying start. : Qâêr - Aspectgo great ergDriver '' :: '''NB' This is difficult to translate into Qâêr as the language lacks verbs for start or begin and relies rather on the Inceptive Aspect, therefore this sentence is translated thus and uses great as an adverb to replace the adjective flying in the English version. One thing to remember, not everything can be translated into another language, and this is an example. - Direct object: Onlookers put the accident down to the driver’s loss of concentration. : Qâêr -'' aspectput down ergOnlooker absAccident databessiveconcentration possDriver'' ::NB It is possible, seen in this example for a noun to be inflected in two cases, this only occurs with the Abessive and Equative cases however. ::NB In this context down is used as an adverb while to is the preposition. When down were to be used as the preposition it would have to come before its object. Phrasal Verbs and Modifying Adverbs In English when modifying adverbs are used alongside particle adverbs intransitively (as particle adverbs usually are), the adverbs can appear in any verb/particle/adverb positions (in English) however in Qâêr the structure follows strictly as - verb/adverb/particle. Example; : looked unhappily round He. The particle adverb here is round and the modifying adverb is unhappily. (Round is a particle because it is not inflected — does not take affixes or alter its form. Unhappily is a modifying adverb because it modifies the verb look). With a transitive particle verb, the adverb goes once again after the verb and before the particle. : Picked cheerfully up ErgHe Absbook. : 'Looked cheerfully after ergHe abschildren. Phrasal Verbs Combined with Special Verb Forms and Clauses Phrasal Verbs Combined with Wh- and That Clauses. Sentences which include verb + particle + object(s) + wh-clauses : English Example - The teacher tried to '''dictate to' his class what is the right thing to do'' : In Qâêr the particle to that comes after dictate would not be present as the Noun class would simply be inflected in Dative case, eliminating the need for this particle. The structure in Qâêr is as follows; :: Imperfective AspectDictate ergTeacher datclass his, participle Do absthing right / participle is absthing right :::either how to do the right thing or what is the right thing is acceptable in Qâêr. :::NB In this example the IO comes before the DO because the DO is imbedded in a subclause clause and this is the only context in which this happens. :English Example - My friends '''called for' me when the time came'' :Qâêr Example - aspectcall ergfriends possmine datme, participle aspectis abstime correct ::(when the time came cannot be directly and correctly translated into Qâêr) :English Example - Watch out that you don’t hit your head on the low beam :Qâêr Example - particle aspectHit on ergyou abshead possyour datbeam low Phrasal Verbs combined with Verb ''-ing'' Forms : English Example - You can’t '''prevent' me from seeing her'' : Qâêr Example - aspectnegationPrevent ergyou absme datHer ParticipleSee ::NB The Active Participle in Qâêr is used in place of gerunds (which Qâêr lacks) and in this context seeing is being used a secondary noun, similar to in English Police Car where Police is a secondary noun, except in Qâêr the secondary nouns follow their head. 'Participles' The Present Active Participle To derive the Present Active Participle form of a Verb the suffix '-pon' is added which transforms verbs as walk or write '''into '''walking and writing and e.c.t. The present active participle is used to describe the name or noun version of a verb and takes the place of either the direct object (I like Swimming) or the subject (Swimming is Fun). When a verb is inflected with the present active participle it cannot be inflected with aspect or tense or any other affix. The position of the present active participle in a sentence depends on if it is taking the place of the subject or object in which case it takes the normal position of any normal subject or object in a Qâêr sentence, also these Present Active Participle nouns are commonly used as secondary nouns, eg. The '''Swimming Pool' where ''swimming is a secondary noun of Pool, same as in The '''swimming race. The Present Passive Participle To derive the Present Passive Participle form of a verb the suffix '''-pones which transforms verbs such as speak and write into spoken and written and e.c.t. The present passive participle is most commonly used as an adjective in Qâêr and it follows the noun like normal adjectives. An example of the Present Passive Participle is; The '''written' word'', or It is a '''spoken' law'', the '''burnt' log'', and e.c.t Example, in the above sentences it would follow the main noun like log, or law. Derivation using the Present Active Participle and the Present Passive Participle The present active participle and the present passive participle also have other derived lexical uses, mainly deriving concrete nouns. The suffix â''' is added onto the present active and passive participles (the complete suffixes becoming '''-ponâ and''' -ponesâ''' respectively) which in turn transform these two participles from writing and written into writer/author and letter '''respectively and so on for other participles. : Example; '''Speaking > Speaker and Spoken > Speech 'e.c.t The Adjectival Participle To derive the Adjectival Participle form of a verb the prefix of 'þyl is added which transforms verbs to adjective participles. An example of an adjectival participle is; : very '''overrated' books, or ''a very '''frightening' experience,'' or ''fallen leaves.'' However in Qâêr Adjectival Participles can be inflected with the Comparative or 'Gradable' prefix because they are being used as adjectives. Gerunds Qâêr has no gerunds and does not use or incorporate them in any way, instead the Present Active Participle takes the place and function of Gerunds in Qâêr. Voice Voice is represented by prefixes that attaches to the verb to indicate the voice of the noun in the ergative case, or when lacking one then in the Absolutive case. Qâêr has three voices, Active, Passive, and Middle, however only two of these are marked, the Passive and Middle voice. This is because the active voice is used the majority of the time therefore not needing an affix of its own. Examples are in English and Qâêr. Sentence in Past Perfective Tense : English – He gave Mary Money : Qâêr - êl-nÿ-semnyn bess e-swâren hâ-mêrŷ : Qâêr – Aspect-Agreement-Give ErgHe Abs-Money DatMary Sentence in Active Voice : English – êl-nÿ-semnyn bess e-swâren hâ-mêrŷ : Qâêr – Agent-Agreement-Give ErgHe Abs-Money Dat-Mary ::NB Passive voice (if you didn't notice) is done through ablaut of the verb.(See Derivations for more) Sentence in Passive Voice : English – Mary was Given Money : Qâêr – êl-nÿ-sômnyn e-swâren hâ-mêrŷ : Qâêr – Aspect-Agreement-Give Abs-Money Dat-Mary Sentence in Middle Voice : English – He washes himself with soap. : Qâêr - dâr-êl-eþ-doncyl bess mele-xeslet : Qâêr – Middle-Aspect-Agreement-Washes ErgHe Instrumental-Soap 'Manner Time Place' Example in Qâêr – ‘'AspectRide ErgI AbsHorse PossMy Datshop’ : English Translation – ‘I will ride my horse to the shop today.’ 'Mood and Modality' In Qâêr mood is represented by a particle that is placed at the head of the sentence. In relation to the Interrogative '''mood, the structure will follow closely to that of the Japanese, meaning a particle will be used and placed before all other particles and used to transform sentences into questions. The '''Precative and Deliberative 'mood will relate here by inflecting on this particle, and only on this particle, thus making the question into a request or ‘''Ought to be done question’. This particle will be ‘'lê’ '''and be placed before all other words in the sentence. Qâêr has thirteen moods. These are as follows; : Indicative (Realis) : Optative : Subjunctive : Speculative : Potential : Jussive (Cohortative in 1st Person) : Dubative : Conditional : Hypothetical : Imperative : Interrogative (Particle) : Deliberative (Relate to Interrogative) : Precative (Relate to Interrogative) 'Interrogative Words The interrogative particle lê 'will be inflected with prefixes and these will phrase interrogative words such as ''what, where ''e.c.t. The interrogative particle without one of these prefixes will just be turned into a normal question. : ''What = qâ + lê – '''qâlê : Where = qysyn + lê – qysynlê : When = qêo + lê – qêolê : Who = qem + lê – qemlê : Why = qŷ + lê – qŷlê : How = qyfâo + lê – qyfâolê : How Much = sonâ + lê – sonâlê :: Sonâ 'is derived from the Fáriân word '''Sjinolâme '''which means ''‘to barter’. :: 'Note '– when using any of these interrogative words in Subordinate or Relative clauses, just the prefix is used, not the prefix with the particle. ='''Dictionary= See Ancient Qâêr Lexicon for a first draft version of Dictionary entries. ='Examples'= 'The Number System' Basic Numbers The Qâêr number system is similar to the English or German one, in that the system is based of the number ten. The basic numbers from 0-10 are as follows; 0 - Lyn 1 - Onno 2 - Sont 3 - Kes 4 - Loto 5 - Yros 6 - Mello 7 - Seles 8 - Opo 9 - Nesso 10 - Kâros Teen Numbers 11 - Onnkâros 12 - Sonkâros 13 - Kekâros 14 - Lokâros 15 - Yrokâros 16 - Melkâros 17 - Selkâros 18 - Okâros 19 - Nekâros NB As you can see, some letters of the original 1-10 numbers have been removed when creating the numebrs 11-19. Other Numbers before 100 With the numbers 20 - 100 there is a structured system however. 'Sentences' 'The Featured Banner' English Example - ::This language was once featured. ::Thanks to its high level of quality and uniqueness, it has been voted as featured. Qâêr Translation - ::êâsynjâmen dwâleñâneþ êylon. ::êþâmne aqâêr dwêdysênyn qâtwân á dwêsymonólyn, sonlâ êþyponÿsen dwâqâêr enâlyþên þysarasâ. Breakdown of Parts - ::ê-â-synjâmen dwâ-leñâneþ êylon. :::perfective-agreement-Present ABS-Language this. ::ê-þ-âmne a-qâêr dwê-dysênyn qâ-twân; á dwê-symonólyn, sonlâ ê-þ-yponÿsen dwâ-qâêr enâ-lyþên þys-arasâ. :::perfective-agreement-possess [ERG-Qaer ABS-Quality prefix-great and ABS-Uniqeness therefore perfective-agreement-vote ABS-Qaer DATPosition GENHonour. Re-translated version of Qâêr translation - ::This Language was presented here. ::Qâêr possesses a very high level of quality and uniqeness therefore Qâêr was voted to a position of Honour. Category:Languages Category:History Category:Proto-Language Category:Novel Work Category:Featured